


Candy Coated (2009)

by JennyB



Series: Advent 2009 [23]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Advent Challenge 2009, Angst, Bittersweet, Flashbacks, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-23
Updated: 2009-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 19:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1097805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennyB/pseuds/JennyB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An innocent gift brings up some memories for Mustang - even in the midst of war there can be moments of peace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Candy Coated (2009)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Advent Challenge 2009. Prompt: Candy canes.

It was Christmas Eve. Ed and Al had arrived in East City that afternoon to make their report to Colonel Mustang before the holidays. They'd also come to drop off a Christmas gift to the raven. Ed was inordinately pleased with what he'd chosen. On one of their excursions, the blond had found a fire opal, and as soon as he had seen the brilliant red gem with the flecks of orange, he'd thought of the Flame Alchemist. Not knowing what to do with it, and feeling a bit weird about putting it into a piece of jewellery, he'd had it inlaid in the cap of an elegant black fountain pen. The dark ebony really set off the gem and made it look even more magnificent as it sat nestled on its small velvet pillow. He'd wrapped the box itself in plain red paper upon which he'd drawn some alchemical symbols, and to finish off the package, he'd tied it with a red satin ribbon, and then tied a candy cane into the bow. The blond knew he wasn't the most artistic person around, but he was happy with how it had turned out - and of course, Al had been quite supportive of his endeavours.

Upon entering the command building, the two greeted Lieutenant Hawkeye, and she accompanied them both to the colonel's office. After admitting Ed, she and Al stood back just inside the doorway to wait for him to finish. Ed's debriefings with Mustang rarely took more than five minutes, and at that, most of the time consisted of the colonel tormenting the blond by baiting him with questions he already knew the answers to. To anyone who didn't know Mustang, he came across as something of a pompous asshole - and to an extent, he was - but despite his patronizing and arrogance, he really did possess a certain fondness for those who were under his command. And that included the Elric brothers.

As expected, Mustang had already known about the items contained in the blond's report, and then he made some wise-ass comment to the effect of how Fullmetal was always coming up short. Ed, predictably, glowered at the other at the height joke, and then asked him, yet again, why the hell he had to submit all that damned paperwork if the colonel already knew what he was going to say. As always, Mustang blew off answering him, and instead asked, "So, will you be staying in East City through the holidays?"

"For tonight. Falman got us a billet. Tomorrow morning, we're heading back to Resembool for a couple of days."

"Ah. Give my regards to Pinako for the holidays."

"Yeah, I'll do that." Ed managed a wry smile at that. He knew that the old woman wasn't exactly what one would call a 'fan' of the military, and though he didn't know why, he could sense that she had a personal thing against Mustang. "Oh!" Recalling the small package he held in his hands, he moved closer to the raven's desk and set the box down on top of it. "Just a little something for you." He waggled his finger at the other in a mock-scolding gesture. "No peeking until tomorrow, though. Those are the rules!" He smiled a little and took a step back from the other.

"Thank you, Edward, but I didn't get you anything."

"That's ok, Colonel. The laws of equivalent exchange don't apply when it comes to presents. I just wanted to get you something."

"I see. Well, I appreciate..." He trailed off when he spied the festively wrapped candy cane on the box, and the dark indigo eyes grew distant. As he focused on the red and white striped confection, he swore he could smell peppermint and gun oil - and it took him back...

_Then-Major Mustang was hiding out in an alley. Around him, he could hear gunfire and hear the screams from his fellow soldiers and the Ishbalans both. A light drizzle was beginning to fall, and his flame alchemy was useless - his gloves didn't work when they were wet, and he didn't have a match or lighter on him. Next to him were Captain Hughes, and a young Riza Hawkeye, barely out of the Academy and not yet holding her commission. They were getting low on ammunition, and if they were discovered, it would be the end for them. Hughes and Hawkeye would probably be held as bargaining chips, but if they learned that Mustang was a State Alchemist, he was as good as dead._

_They could hear the sound of the Ishbalan assault rifles drawing closer to their position, and they weren't hearing any gunfire being returned from their own people. It wasn't looking good. They heard someone yell from the street, "Check the alleys! They can't have gone far!" The three looked at each other and made ready to fight._

_Just then, a door opened in the side of an abandoned building, and they heard a small voice call out, "Psst!" Turning, they saw two young Ishbalan children, maybe six and eight, and they were beckoning the three soldiers over to them so that they could hide. The two junior officers looked at Mustang, leaving the decision up to him. He knew that if they stayed where they were, the rebel patrol would find them, and from the sound of the guns, he knew they didn't have the resources to defeat them all. However, they could just as easily be walking into a trap with the youngsters, and as he knew far too well, just because they were young, it didn't make them innocents. He heard the boy whisper a hurried, "Come on! They're coming!" and giving a nod to Hawkeye and Hughes, he gestured toward the door. It had just clicked silently shut behind them when they heard hurried footsteps in the alleyway, and Mustang turned to face the two children, waiting to see what they would do._

_The girl held a finger to her lips, her red eyes wide as they heard the patrol searching the alley, and when it had moved on, she relaxed some and smiled at him. "Hi," she said, her voice soft and breathy. "I'm Delia. This is my brother Tomas."_

_Mustang frowned a little. "Hello. I'm Roy. This is Riza and Maes," he said as he gestured to Hawkeye and Hughes in turn. He figured it was safer to use their first names. "What are you two doing here?"_

_"Hiding," Tomas replied, and then with the blind trust that only children possess, he took Mustang's hand and pulled him farther into the room. "Me an' Delia hide here, 'cept when we've gotta go find food."_

_Hawkeye looked at them curiously. "You know we're not from Ishbal? Surely some of your own people would look after you."_

_Mustang snorted in amusement. Hawkeye was never really one to beat around the bush._

_Delia shook her head. "No. They took mommy and daddy away from us because they made pictures like that." She pointed to the array on the raven's glove._

_Hughes arched a brow. "They were alchemists?"_

_Tomas nodded, and then he shivered a little. Even though Ishbal was in a desert, it still got cold at night._

_"Here." Mustang led them over to what looked like their sleeping area, and after gathering together a bunch debris, he drew a small array in the dirt with a stick, and after a couple of feeble snaps, he finally ignited the pile, providing warmth for the two children. "Better?" he asked._

_The little girl nodded and cuddled into his side, and Tomas looked at them in thought for a moment, and then went to his belongings. When he came back, he was carrying something in his hands that he seemed to hold in high regard. Sitting down between Hughes and Hawkeye, he unwrapped his treasure, revealing a large, striped candy cane. "Thanks, Mister. Here; it's Christmas. I was saving it, but this is a pretty good reason to share." At that, he bit a piece off the end, and then passed the candy to Hughes._

_Citrine eyes regarded the slightly dirty and quite sticky piece of candy, and chuckling a little as he looked at his commander, he, too, bit off a piece and then passed it to Mustang._

_By the time the sweet had made the rounds and returned to Tomas, all that was left was the curl at the end. The boy lovingly wrapped it back up in its cloth, and set it on the dusty floor in front of him as he sucked the peppermint._

The three soldiers had stayed with the children until the early dawn, watching over them as they slept. Despite the war going on around them, it had been a nice Christmas. Not because of where they were, or because of any traditions they'd followed, but because, for a few short hours, they hadn't been Ishbalans and Amestrians. They had just been people, and for those brief, shining moments, they had all been able to forget. Mustang smiled a little at the memory, and then it faded just as quickly as it had come.

In the morning, when they had heard their own troops advancing on their position, they'd rejoined their unit. As the senior officer, Mustang had been summoned before Brigadier General Fessler to make a full report. The raven had debated long and hard with himself about revealing what had happened, but in the end, he'd believed that the State would intervene on the children's behalf, if only because of what they had done. Fessler had promised him that the children would be well taken care of. It was only later that Mustang had learned that the general had sent Kimblee in to 'take care' of them. He sighed a little at that. It had been one more disheartening pill he'd had to swallow, and though he hated his superior for deceiving him as he had, he didn't regret his time with Tomas and Delia at all.

Ed watched Mustang zone out for a few seconds, and saw myriad emotions flicker across his face. By now, he knew the other well enough to know where the raven's mind had gone - Hughes had told him once in confidence when Ed had been on a rant about the colonel's behaviour that Roy Mustang had been quite badly affected by the war. A lot of them had, but Mustang seemed to carry a lot of guilt over it - more than most - and that got Ed to wondering just what the colonel had seen and done. He'd never told Al about that conversation. Despite the fact that they held virtually no secrets between them, for some reason, Ed felt that he owed that little bit of loyalty to Mustang.

However, Al's lack of knowledge often made him worry excessively. "Colonel? Colonel Mustang? Are you alright?" he called from the door, and he gave a small, startled gasp when, after a second or two, the raven blinked twice and looked over at him.

"I'm fine," Mustang replied dismissively, even as his fingers lightly, almost reverently, caressed along the satin ribbon that held the candy. "I just...thank you. It was a thoughtful gift." His eyes glittered a little, and then he turned his chair around to look out the window. "If you don't mind, I have a lot of paperwork to do, so I'd like to be left alone." 

"Paperwork. Right." Ed took note of the spotless desk - the only document on it was the report he'd just submitted.

There was a pause, and then Mustang said, "By the way, Major Hughes was here the other day on a visit from Central. He left gifts for the two of you from him and his wife. Lieutenant Hawkeye can get them for you."

Hawkeye's expression softened, and for a moment, she remembered that night, too. "Come on boys. I'll get those parcels for you. And if you'd like, Edward, you can come over tonight for dinner. Breda, Falman, Fuery and Havoc will be there, too." She went to his side and gently, but insistently, grabbed Ed's elbow and tugged him from the room.

At the doorway, Ed pulled free from her grasp and he turned to face the large office. "Merry Christmas, Colonel," he said softly. He waited for a moment, and then he turned to leave. Just before he closed the door, he heard a low, gruff, "Merry Christmas, Edward," in return.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye?" Al asked once they were out in the ante-office. "Did...we do something wrong?"

She smiled kindly and shook her head. "No, Alphonse, you didn't. I know it might not look it, but the colonel isn't angry with you at all. If anything, I think you just brought up some old memories for him."

"Lieutenant?" Ed asked, his expression contemplative. "Will the colonel be at your place tonight?"

"He said he would be, yes."

"And you don't think he'll mind me being there? I mean, I didn't mean to make him revisit that place."

Hawkeye gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "You have to remember, Edward, that there was a lot of hell there, yes, but sometimes, there were good moments, too." She led them towards her office. "He just needs a bit of time, but I bet if you asked him, Colonel Mustang would tell you what he'd been thinking about." She smiled a bit, her own eyes taking on a slightly distant look. "And I bet he'd even share his candy cane with you."


End file.
